Southwest Wins Third Straight District Title

The Southwest Eagles have been a team that has been among the best in Miami for much of the year. They also play in a 7A region that contains perennial powerhouse Columbus, and up-and-coming West Broward. And at the top of that region? The five time state champion Douglas Eagles.

So it makes sense that even at 16-7, Southwest has flown under the radar.

On Thursday night, the Eagles continued to do what they have done for now the past three years. Win district titles.

This time, it was the offense that carried Southwest, scoring at least one run in every inning, on their way to an 11-4 title game win over South Dade.

“I give credit to South Dade,” said Southwest Manager Mandy Pelaez. “Omar does a good job of coaching them. Our guys just came out ready to play today, and they just kept bringing it on offense. I was proud of the way they came out and competed.”

The Eagles received hits from seven of their nine hitters in the lineup. Jorge Lacher, Dylan Duarte, and Max Rico led the way with two hits each. Lacher also had three RBIs, leading the team. Bryan Garcia had a hit and two RBIs out of the nine-hole.

On the mound, it was a two-headed monster of Marcos Veliz, who went four innings, and Tyler Villamor, who closed out the final three innings.

“Marcos was one of the highlights of the night,” said Pelaez. “He ran into some trouble in the second, missed some spots, but he settled in and did a great job of competing. And then we had Tyler come in and close the door. It was a great effort from both of those guys.”

Southwest came into the game as one of the hottest teams in the county, winning 11 of their past 13 games, and they showed their confidence early, scoring four in the first, a run each in the second and third, two more each in the fourth and fifth, and added a single insurance run in the sixth.

“It was really impressive for the offense to just keep coming all night long, and never really having a let up inning. That constant pressure that we put on was the difference in the game tonight.”

So now with the district title behind them, the Eagles can begin to focus on navigating their way through one of the most difficult regions in the entire state. It is a region that will feature some of the top players in the country. It is a challenge Pelaez and his squad are looking forward to.

“We played a pretty complete game tonight, and now we just wait to see who our opponent is, and start preparing for next Friday,” said Pelaez.

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